Bioperl: Today's news: Defending the value of openly pursued research...

[Lew Gramer]

>From the New York Times, "Science Times" section today...


N.I.H. Plan for Journal on the Web Draws Fire

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON -- The director of the National Institutes of Health has touched off
a passionate debate by proposing that scientists disclose and disseminate the
results of biomedical research on the Internet, making the full text of their
reports available at no cost to anyone with a computer anywhere in the world.

The director, Dr. Harold E. Varmus, said his proposal for an electronic
publishing operation, called E-biomed, would speed the progress of science by
accelerating the exchange of information among researchers and by vastly
increasing access to it.

Moreover, he said, the Web site could be "a democratizing force" because any
legitimate researchers, "however remotely located or poorly known," could enter
reports on it.

Federal officials say they have no firm timetable for E-biomed but hope to take
the first steps on the project later this year, after reviewing comments and
criticism from scores of scientists around the world.

[...]


Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company

Full Story (with copyright and distribution restrictions) is at:
 http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/060899sci-research-journal.html


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